Toy molding device



Jan. 26, 1943. F. M. DURAN TOY MOLDING DEVICE Filed Dec. 14, 1940 m u a m a. W M. M 4 g Patented Jan. 26, 1943 UNlTED STATES PATENT O'FFLICE This inventionrelates to molding apparatus I and more particularly to molding apparatusfor producing toy building blocks and the like "which may be in the form of squares, cylinders, triangles or other moldab le forms and shapes.

The invention contemplates molding toy building blocks out of such plastic materials as snow,

sand, clay and plaster of Paris, or any other form of artistic moldablematerial'which'may be commonly employed for decorative purposes in toy building blocks and similar forms for building and educational purposes.

Various forms of the molding devices have been heretofore proposed and one difliculty experienced is that of removing the mold formfrom the article and one important object of the present invention is to provide'a novel form of 'molding device which shall facilitate the production of a plurality of molded shapes and articlesin a simple and more efiicient manner than heretofore .proposed.

Another object of the invention is to provide :toy molding apparatus of the character designated having a novel arrangement ofmold devices located in a master mold, whereby each separatemold device is reinforced by an adjacent device.

Another object of the invention is to'provide a molding device of the 'characterdesignated including individual mold forms constructed and arranged so that the same may be opened and discharge the contents without destroying or mutilating the formed object in the several molds.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel form of molding apparatus having guide members for positioning and aligning the molds of the individual devices.

These and other objects of the invention will be more manifest from the following specification and drawing and more particularly set forth in the claims:

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a mold assembly embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the master mold frame and mold guide members;

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are perspective views of particular mold shape, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view on line 66 of Figure 1.

Referring to Figures land 2 of the drawing there-is shown a molding device for toy building The several molding units for forming the several different shapes and structures usually employed in building blocks are retained ina rectangular open box frame or retainer mold indicated generally by the numeral I0. This box may be ofa depth to best form blocks of the desired depth as indicated by the sides Hll, ends l2-l2 and a detachable "bottom I3. While I haveshown the sides and ends of integral formation, it is obvious that these may be made of knock-down formation to facilitate access to or removal of the units.

In the particular embodiment ofthe invention,

the individual molds are designed to provide blocks of general configuration such as squares, cylinders, triangles and otherirregular shapes as indicated by thenumerals 1'4, l5 and IS in Figs.

13, 4'and 5.

Whichever form of block is desired, molds of appropriate shape are placed in the box as shown in Fig. 1, so as'to completely'fill the same or a compartment of the'box as hereinafter more fully described.

It will be notedthat the several molds placed in the box In, brace one another and therefore whenthe filling or mold material is piled in and packed, the box contains a monolithic mass in which all the individual units are freely separable. 'That material which is packed between 1 spaces between cylinders, for example, serves to brace the adjacent mold sides and is discarded when the molds are discharged.

The individual molds are preferably made of light sheet metal previously formed into the shapes which it is desired to produce. These molds are open at the ends and the free end edges are temporarily joined at an edge of the mold as indicated at l1 for example. The joint is made by providing one side element with a notch l8 and the other with a projection l9 commensurate in size therewith. These joint elements serve as guides for the mold side parts and retain the edges in the proper plane until released by removal from the frame I0. The contact relation of the joint parts permits these mold elements to be readily removed so as to minimize any danger of damage to the molded objects.

To further aid in positioning and retaining the mold parts in the box H), which might be termed the master mold, the bottom 13 is provided with appropriate grooves 20 as shown in Figs, 2 and 6. For a particular set of building blocks, these grooves are of the general configuration of the molds to produce the desired molded blocks and serve as guides for positioning and holding the ends by a projection fitting into an appror priate notch 26.

To further facilitate the molding of articles, the base or bottom I3 may be detachably connected to the sides by any suitable device such as the dowel pins indicated by the numerals 7 21-21. Whichever form is employed it is necessary that the mold frame parts be removed so as to minimize any danger of breaking or multilating the finished product as frequently happens in the use of certain types of toy molds now in use.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The several mold devices are assembled in the box frame in accordance with the groove lay-out in the bottom of the box for the particular forms. Material, such as wet sand or snow is piled into the box filling the individual molds and spaces and then the material is tamped to a desired firmness.

It will thus be noted that the entire mass is a monolithic block and the several mold walls are braced or reinforced by contact relation with the adjacent mold or box side wall.

The entire conents of the box l0 may be discharged by first lifting out the partition 24 by the projections 25-45. The removal of the partition loosens all the molds in the box so that when the box is turned over on a flat surface, the individual molds are freely disengaged from the box sides and from each other. Then again, if the sides and ends of the box frame are removed from the bottom 13, the mold units remain on the bottom I 3 as abase for transportation or further use. The mold units thus deposited on the base, the individual mold shell units may then be removed at will from the base and opened to remove the individual shape formed thereby. It will thus be noted that the individual mold shells serve to aid in handling the molded shapes until they may actually be placed in a desired structure.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that various changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, the several molded blocks may be bonded together in a unit structure by means of tooth picks or other forms of slender rods inserted in the plastic surface of the material being used. Furthermore, if it is desired to use a fluid plastic material, such as plaster of Paris, a box l0 should be made fluid tight so as to prevent any leakage of material through cracks in the side or bottom portions thereof.

I claim:

1. A molding device for a plurality of objects comprising, a box frame having a bottom support and an open top, a plurality of thin walled molds located in said frame and resting on said support and means formed integrally with the bottom support and conforming to the end configuration of a mold formed integrally with the bottom support and conforming to the lower end configuration of each mold.

2. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 1, in which the molds are placed in contiguous relation whereby the walls of one mold are reinforced by the wall of an adjacent mold, and means for permitting aligned separation of the bottom frame member from the box sides whereby the bottom shall form a base for retaining the members in position, and facilitate the removal of each separate mold casing with its contents.

3. Apparatus of the character designated in claim L in which the box frame is divided by a centrally disposed removable partition, and means for permitting removal of the partition to relieve lateral pressure on the individual molds and thus permit free discharge of the molds from the box.

4. A molding device for a plurality of objects comprising, a box frame having a bottom support and an open top, a plurality of thin walled molds located in said frame and resting on said support, and means including grooves formed integrally'with the bottom support and conforming to the lower end configuration of each mold to position the same in said box frame.

FELIPE MUNILLA DURAN. 

